A study on multimodal metaphor in coca cola and pepsi’ television commercials

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ THU HIỀN A STUDY ON MULTIMODAL METAPHOR IN COCA- COLA AND PEPSI’ TELEVISION COMMERCIALS (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ ẨN DỤ ĐA PHƯƠNG TIỆN TRONG CÁC TVC QUẢNG CÁO CỦA COCA- COLA VÀ PEPSI) MA THESIS – TYPE Field : English Linguistics Code : 8220201.01 HANOI – 2018 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ THU HIỀN A STUDY ON MULTIMODAL METAPHOR IN COCA- COLA AND PEPSI’ TELEVISION COMMERCIALS (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ ẨN DỤ ĐA PHƯƠNG TIỆN TRONG CÁC TVC QUẢNG CÁO CỦA COCA- COLA VÀ PEPSI) MA THESIS – TYPE Field : English Linguistics Code : 8220201.01 Instructor : Nguyễn Thị Minh Tâm, Ph.D HANOI – 2018 DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis titled „A Study on Multimodal Metaphor in Coca - Cola and Pepsi’ Television Commercials’ is the result of my own work in partial fulfilment of the requirements for Degree of Master of Arts of Faculty at Post - graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University of Hanoi The research has not been submitted to any other universities or institutions Signature i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For the fulfilment of the master thesis, first and foremost, I would love to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Dr Nguyen Thi Minh Tam for all her invaluable comments, counsel and her whole-souled instructions as well Beside my advisor, my sincere thanks are sent to all my colleagues at the faculty of Foreign Languages at Hanoi Pedagogical University No.2 for their suggestions that enable me to complete my study My heartfelt thanks would also go to my institution – Hanoi Pedagogical University No.2 for giving best conditions to study at University of Languages and International Studies for my postgraduate program and carry out the thesis over a long time Finally, I owe a debt of gratitude to my family for their supports and care during the completion of my study ii ABSTRACT There is no shadow of doubt that human beings have been employing metaphor in almost all aspects of life even though they are sometimes unaware of the fact And the professional world of scholars has already taken the notion of metaphor into account Especially after the publication of the work named Metaphors We Live By in 1980 by Lakoff and Johnson, the notion of metaphor was exploited conceptually and seemed to have more practical applications The thesis was done to investigate how multimodal metaphor has been used in Coca- Cola and Pepsi‟ television commercials accompanied by a comparison between two companies The present study includes four main chapters: literature review, methodology, findings and discussion, and conclusions Findings show that both brands take full advantage of visual, verbal and sonic modes, despite different degrees, to represent groups of metaphorical themes Similar and different aspects in their usage of, multimodal metaphor were also disclosed in the study iii Table of contents DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES vi PART A INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale .1 Research questions .2 Significance of the study Scope of the study Design of the thesis .3 PART B DEVELOPMENT .5 CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW APPROACHES TO METAPHOR 1.1 Before Cognitive Linguistics 1.2 Cognitive Linguistics MULTIMODAL METAPHOR 2.1 Multimodality and monomodality .9 2.2 Features of a multimodal metaphor 11 2.3 Modes in a multimodal metaphor: Classification and interaction .13 2.4 Multimodal metaphor and the genre .15 EMPIRICAL STUDIES 18 CHAPTER SUMMARY 20 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 21 Description of the data 21 Methods of the study .21 Analytical Framework 23 Data Analysis Procedure 25 iv Chapter summary 26 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 27 3.1 Statistical findings 27 3.1.1 Coca – Cola 27 3.1.2 Pepsi 28 3.2 Qualitative findings 29 3.2.1 Multimodal metaphor in Coca- Cola TV commercials 29 3.2.2 Multimodal metaphor in Pepsi TV commercials 46 3.3 Discussion of research questions 62 3.3.1 Answer to research question 1: „How is multimodal metaphor used in the TV ads of Coca - Cola and Pepsi?’ 62 3.3.2 Answer to research question 2: „What are similarities and differences in using multimodal metaphor of the two soft drink brands?’ 63 3.4 Chapter summary 64 PART C CONCLUSIONS .65 Recapitulation of main ideas 65 Limitations 66 Recommendations for further studies 67 REFERENCES 68 APPENDICES I v LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure Subdivision of Modes - Forceville (2007: 20) Figure Metaphorical Themes Frequency in 15 Coca- Cola's TVCs Figure 3: Metaphorical Themes Frequency in 15 Pepsi's TVCs Table 1: Sample Analytical Framework Table 2: Mappings of the CM Love is a journey Table 3: Mappings of the CM Drink is a journey vi PART A INTRODUCTION In this part, the researcher explains why she chose the research topic and indicates aims, scope and design of the study Two raised research questions were clearly stated Rationale Metaphor was considered as an exclusively figurative phenomenon which had little or no place in everyday language until the 19th century Yet, since Lakoff and Johnson published their work named Metaphors We Live By in 1980, the notion of conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) has ruled metaphor studies Here, metaphors are primarily a phenomenon of thought rather than of language, which have been applied to all corners of life such as literature, economy and especially recreational and media areas Additionally, as a result of the quick social commercialization and the surge of media, advertising becomes one of the most efficient ways of broadcasting products, and a fundamental part of our life as well as „a major manifestation of conceptual metaphors‟ (Kövecses 2002: 59) In the realm of advertising, metaphor is regarded as an integration of words, images, sounds and meanings A well-selected metaphor will significantly provoke shoppers‟ inspiration to buy a certain product Forceville (2008) asserts that it is vital to study nonverbal and multimodal metaphors systematically to test claims made about conceptual metaphors Within Conceptual Metaphor Theory framework, multimodal metaphors are defined as those metaphors whose target and source are rendered exclusively or predominantly in two or more modes and the verbal is in many cases just one of them (Forceville: 2006; see also Forceville: 2008; Forceville and Urios Aparisi: 2009a) The possible modes likely consist of written and spoken language, static and moving images, music, nonverbal sounds, and gestures (Forceville and Urios-Aparisi: 2009b) The researcher was impressed by Coca - Cola and Pepsi – two typical soft drink brands in the beverage industry Both have invested a lot in commercial strategies to propagate their names worldwide One of reasons for their success may come from their advertising campaigns with TV commercials (TVCs) combined by different modes ranging from images, sounds and words The researcher questions the use of multimodal metaphor on those TVCs in broadcasting the items and grabbing the audience‟s attention; hence, she is so curious to a thorough research into this area For the aforementioned explanations, the thesis mainly concentrates on analyzing the multimodal metaphors used in TVCs of two brands Coca-Cola and Pepsi within the Conceptual Metaphor Theory, from which some comparison will be made between the two brands Research questions A great number of works within the Conceptual Metaphor Theory have been done, but concentrate only on one aspect of the metaphor Even if they did consider various modes, their areas are totally different, so hardly can the researcher find a research of the same field and topic The present paper analyses metaphor as a complex phenomenon and argues that the genre and modes interact to create a meaningful message to advertise the target items The problem raises the following research questions: How is multimodal metaphor used in the TV ads of Coca - Cola and Pepsi? What are similarities and differences in using multimodal metaphor of the two soft drink brands? The research‟s aims were to identify multimodal metaphors and relationships between their target and source domains in expressing certain messages followed by a comparison in using multimodal metaphors of the two big names The corpus included two series of 30 TV commercials taken from the website iSpot.tv which they ultimately one that possess flavors and can be raise in a joyous toast tasted Three modalities contribute -A trio of Coke bottles to spreading the final message of that appear in a billboard the ad that no matter who you are, across the way (They there's a Coke for you When three include Coke, Coca-Cola colorful Life Zero thirsty on a hot day, they can't but newly help but crave an ice cold Coca- redesigned Diet Coke is Cola.The sweet scene at the end of nowhere to be seen) the ad when they altogether enjoy Sugar, and Coke mural characters get their success demonstrates that the love for the Coke exactly costs them a journey to go 4.2.1.5 A drink is a food’s lover C14 (2018 – 30s) Food feuds- Tailgate XX Com- Mode mercia Visual l code Related contextual Verbal Spok Meaning information Sonic Written Sound Music lively settings in which the backgro The in the campaign - Despite presence of three basic all of these sports fans people und „Serve with a Coca- modalities, just verbal and visual pair their game day and are self- sounds race day meals with narrating of daily of Coca-Cola Some in activitie Mountain their love affair with choose to eat burgers, spoken s, the King‟ food and the modern ribs and hot dogs, while language games others enjoy slightly and more adventurous end options like crawfish, the ad, a of pollo asado and hummus written opening animated brings out a new something that clearly appearan the documentary-style confuses a man at the ce grill „Serve en C14 with soundtrack ‘In the Hall Cola‟ aired in 2018 the to engage people in (Edvard the and the Grieg) of sound meal experience – to from food halls to illustrate the food trucks „Serve journey creatures of Coke of with a Coca-Cola‟ television commercial that‟s a airing in English and factors devote to reveal the common messages and metaphors - the main CM „A DRINK IS A LOVER‟ Food must be paired with the Coke because they are best couple making up a food love story In this video, it is the love story of Coca- Cola and burgers Whatever kinds of burgers, the best partner with them is just the Coke and got to be the Coke Whether coupled with the salty crunch XXI of tacos, the Coca- Spanish nationwide mouthwatering taste of a char- Cola‟ and will extend grilled steak, or a freshly made comes throughout the year grilled out chicken sandwich– a delicious, refreshing Coca-Cola is still the perfect complement to any plate 4.2.2 Multimodal metaphor in Pepsi TV commercials 4.2.2.1 A drink is a food’s best partner P07 (2017 – 30 seconds) Little Caesars Pizza Hot-N-Ready Lunch Combo - Busy People Com- Mode mercia Visual l code P07 Related Verbal Spoken Sonic Written Sound Music contextual information - First scene: People a man acts „4 slices + backgro soft music Little Caesars® happily walk into the as a Pizza, the chain Little Caesars Pizza narrator and „$5 sounds rated the “Best restaurant to get their ‘Little Hot- N- of Value” amongst pizzas Ready accompanied Caesars Pepsi‟ und the restaura Meaning the top quick- The multimodal metaphors are basically generated by verbal and visual triggers, not much from sonic one because the aural mode is just the background music and sounds which not deliver XXII by Pepsi bottles in Pizza Lunch their hands At the lunch Combo same time, we can combo is 11 a.m – America, is see key words such as ready 2p.m giving bargain- Little Caesars Pizza when you every savvy, pizza- or were walk in so day!‟ loving guests a written on the printed it's perfect „Little lunchtime billboards Caesars favorite for a Pizza‟ crazy value For Combo for busy - Second scene: In the people nt and service ( offices restaurants in office, people stand Isn't that a limited-time up saying „Yes‟ with right?‟ and only, the HOT- the two products N-READY® officers -Final scene: the main reply advertisement any message Lunch Combo, „Yes‟ In featuring four the end, slices of Little „Pizza Caesars® pizza, Pizza‟ is paired with a spoken Pepsi, is only $5 plus applicable XXIII - Two modes are co-working in the first two scenes, pointing out that the busy people are the company‟s target customers; furthermore, pizza and Pepsi are best partners helping people have best meals in hardworking days Perhaps, the idea comes from the fact that with the growing demand for wellpriced lunch options, offer the Lunch Combo, which is a great value at regular price, should be offered for this bold deal to show the hungry and hardworking that it is possible to have both quality and convenience at a price that doesn‟t break the bank It‟s also a delicious and satisfying alternative to the standard quick-service lunchtime tax at fare like a burger and fries participating U.S locations P12 (2018 – 15 seconds) The Weekend is Here Commerci Mode Visual Related Verbal al Spoken contextual Sonic Written Sound Meaning Music information code P12 An ice cold Pepsi Spoken Pepsi & background The TV shot followed by the narration with slogan sounds came out in scene that three core idea „For friends head to a „Because local taqueria to Pepsi, it's got a you‟re you‟re celebrate the date with your craving‟ craving‟ weekend with taste campaign in tacos and Pepsi, Because of course After weekend is here - A diversity of follow – up that, series of and moments pile on the must – have the „For the whatever whatever buds the 2018 you‟re XXIV An ice cold glass of Pepsi comes to light at first that delivers a feeling of refreshment and revitalization for the sequential moments These emotions are existent in a weekend‟s meal of three friends with tacos and Pepsi on the table delicious dishes taking tacos relation between the brand and food and people whether asada, Only when paired with the Pepsi, drinking the Pepsi carnitas or can such tasty kinds of food become are broadcast The maybe tacos al logo and the pastor whatever brand name you‟re craving appears at the This is the Pepsi end for you mouth- watering with true flavors - The metaphor can be verbalized as PEPSI IS BEST PARTNER OF FOOD The two domains become identifiable easily through the verbal and visual constituents 4.2.2.2 A drink is our time P14 (2018 – 30s) This is the Pepsi Commercial Mode Visual code P14 Related contextual Verbal Spoken Written The spot features iconic The spot is Slogan celebrities of Pepsi‟s past and narrated present, including Britney by Jimmy Sonic Sound information Music The song Pepsi also apparently „Celebrat Boogie Feet energizes the „Back ing every - Kesha to the Future‟ XXV Meaning Pepsi is time, from the past to Spears, Michael Jackson, Jeff Fallon, generatio Featuring DeLorean AND Jeff even the future Gordon, „Uncle Drew,‟ and a and as n‟ Eagles of Gordon's race car Although cameo from the famous previously Death Even Cindy advertisement DeLorean Time Machine announced Metal Crawford, along consists of from „Back to the Future.‟The with her fellow- enough three logo stands next to the written model son, returns to modalities, verbal slogan in blue background the scene and visual aids the are the principle vehicles 4.2.2.3 A drink is a companion of joy and refreshment P09 (2014 – 30 seconds) Explosively Cherry Com- Mode mercial Visual code Related Verbal Spoken contextual Sonic Written Sound Meaning Music informatio n P09 A man at a gas station Spoken and The slogan A opens „Live a Pepsi Wild written similar for sound XXVI the of vibrant The three modes and Cheery and the cherries expressions now‟ is also opening pop off of a nearby co-appear at indicated Pepsi woman's dress A man's the end smiles cherry-shaped floaty „Pepsi wild the backgroud metaphorical juxtaposition are and music comparable non-literally to reach the underlying note that cracking, opening a Cherry pops in a pool A cherry cherry Pepsi and watching cherry flavor sign explode around you bring you explodes into Explosively fireworks Crack open a cherry surprising and joyful moments Cherry Pepsi and watch Take this chance because the cherry drink is as valuable as your time flavor explode around you If the pictures of a red cheerful moments right now, cherry, a glass of Pepsi not hesitate to get one Pepsi and a can of Pepsi stand together XXVII you want to experience P13 (2018 – 30s) Uncle Drew – Timeless Com - Mode Visual Related Verbal merc Spoken ial contextual Sonic Wri Sou tten nd Music Meaning information code P13 The main character is A man- vibrant narrating his story from his voice over accompanied youth to his old age The the Pepsi is present in every of of the video his life moment The main inserted setting is the basketball with court which is associated other voices with his career as a of the two basketballer ladies course music Pepsi follows Uncle Drew, played by NBA star Kyrie Irving, through the decades, doing what he does best: working up a thirst and getting buckets Whether he's breaking ankles or breaking some hearts, Irving's alter ego says an ice-cold Pepsi Cola always brings refreshment and he's been drinking it for a long time and two athletes - Pepsi is a carrier of revitalization When on we sip an ice cold Pepsi, we will refresh the sports ourselves with extremely cool feelings - fields The phrase „future tastes good‟ and all XXVIII visible sights moving from the Irving‟s youth to his old age, another idea comes out that Pepsi is not for the past or present, but also for the future In fact, it is for all generations as Pepsi is our time and our life When Pepsi is with us, even it has not happened yet, but for sure our future will be good and refreshing; that is, „it tastes good‟ P06 (2014 – 60 seconds) Good Times Com- Mode mercial Visual code Related Verbal Spoken contextual Sonic Written Soun Meaning information Music d P06 A sunny and dynamic Man – Real summer day with lots of voiced summer people Pepsi‟; joining outdoor narration big Summer – joyful inspiring XXIX and Summer was made for good times and when Pepsi comes activities A big Pepsi all along „Something background to town they bring good vibes truck comes downtown, of the ad big is coming music to a whole new level Pepsi distributing the soda to real big‟ took three new flavors of with a surprise for passers- Pepsi Made with Real Sugar by More impressively, a to the music city, Nashville, team for a real big summer party of airplanes is performing on the sky, writing the and great times company‟s tagline To end, people are happily enjoying the drink, even the old pilot raising his hand with a Pepsi can XXX P08 (2017 – 25 seconds) On the Rocks Commerci Mode Visual Verbal al Spoke code n P08 Related contextual Sonic Written Breaking out of the ice, Slogan Pepsi makes its way from „Break can to glass with refreshing the Pepsi‟ Sound Out fizz and flare for a classic Meaning information Music The song „On Pepsi is a companion of the rock‟ by refreshment Yes You are feelings and Enjoy cool it and experience that feeling close up look P10 (2017 – 15 seconds) Delicious Refreshing Commerci Mode Visual al Related contextual Verbal Spoken Written information Sonic Sound Meaning Music code P10 A can of Pepsi Big- capitalized Cracking slides down an slogans and pouring sounds XXXI The very short TV Pepsi is a companion of shot with concise refreshment and cool icy countertop, sparkling appear content is exposed feelings cracks twice visually, verbally experience that feeling and pours itself „DELICIOUS – and sonically Three into a glass REFRESHING modalities are on the +Pepsi – PEPSI‟ same side and in open logo appears at the perfect teamwork end Enjoy it and - Pepsi is an explosion of refreshment with great taste Once we take a sip, we seem to be recharged with more energy and cooler feelings 4.2.2.4 A drink is a sports cheerleader/ supporter P02 (2014 – 15 seconds) ‘Futbo and Pepsi’ Com- Mode mercial Visual Verbal code P02 Related Spoken contextual Sonic Written Sound Meaning Music information The shot features Lionel Slogan „ Live Lively These triggers lead to Messi The setting of a for now and „ accompanied an charming Lionel Futbol music stands out Pepsi and football are Messi turns up smartly Pepsi‟ a team members and the town, & with snacks in his hand beautiful morning XXXII drink indication is that supporter/ He bends down to retrieve cheerleader a Pepsi from a vending sport machine, and an old man sitting next to the machine snags a chip from his bag of Lays The man tips his hat to Messi It is time for football and Pepsi presented by an ice cold Pepsi Pepsi can and the big football behind them in the blue background XXXIII of the P04 (2015 – 30 seconds) Halftime Touches Down Commercial Mode Visual code P04 Related Verbal Spoke Wri n tten The Pepsi vending machine acts No No contextual Sonic Sound poor in Meaning Music information this The very short Overall just TV shot with allocated messages an alien flying to the earth and mode, creates a big whole pulling many background concise content there is not any verbal sign things such as the big Pepsi truck, sounds of the is exposed and some Pepsi cans, the guitars and extraterrestrial visually, modality the blue hair of a mannequin verbally and - the soda is the unique After that, a magnificent stadium sonically Three backer with the Pepsi logo in the middle modalities are atmosphere of the football ground The crowd on the same side halftime It surprisingly rush out of the street and in perfect maintain the to witness such an abnormal teamwork enthusiasm of fans, making so visually are poor because in sonic rousing the during is here heat the to and phenomenon They seem to be so them keep waiting happily excited when seeing the stadium and amusingly for the match XXXIV ... one to the other domain 2.3 Modes in a multimodal metaphor: Classification and interaction In multimodal metaphors analysis in advertising, there have been several classifications presented In. .. 2.1 Multimodality and monomodality .9 2.2 Features of a multimodal metaphor 11 2.3 Modes in a multimodal metaphor: Classification and interaction .13 2.4 Multimodal metaphor and. ..VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ THU HIỀN A STUDY ON MULTIMODAL METAPHOR IN COCA- COLA AND PEPSI’ TELEVISION